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The Lexicon:Image Law
Images on the Lexicon need to follow a series of guidelines. This is to protect the legal status of the Lexicon as a free, "open source" resource for USF members and others, but to also protect the bandwidth and server status of our hosting providers.* __TOC__ Uploading Guidelines Our server has a lock on uploads, meaning files being uploaded must be under 8MB total. In general, most files uploaded will be much smaller than 8MB. Files uploaded should be "final formats" of files. In other words, you should NOT upload Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop files, or Gimp files. (.ai and .psd and .xcf) Acceptable file formats for images are PNG files (8 bit palleted, grayscale, and 24 bit files) and JPEG files. GIF files should NOT be used, unless animation is necessary. Other file formats, such as BMP, TGA, TIFF, etc., should be converted into JPEG (lossy) or PNG (lossless) files. Using Images in Articles Images used in articles MUST NOT be wider than 200px! (With very, very few exceptions) This is accomplished by adding |200px at the end of the extended syntax image tag. Here is an example: Thumbnailing A better way to use images on the Lexicon is to use "thumbnail" in the extended image syntax. This allows you to add explanation text to accompany the image, like so: ' thumb ' formats the image as a thumbnail (with a frame and an icon to prompt the user to click the image for a larger version). ' right ' causes the image to "float right" to the side of the stage. The last pipe ( | ) separates the commands from the actual text of the thumbnail. If you feel unsure of how to use this method, go to one of the several sample layouts for articles on the Guide Index page, which include the above mentioned image syntax, and just copy/paste. Size of the Image The extended image syntax allows the Wiki system to resize the image for use in the text whilst allowing access to a larger, higher resolution version of the image. Inline images in the text should NOT be too large. This wiki used Imagemagick to resize images on the server. The output is very clean (see the thumbnail to the right). We would prefer that high resolution images be uploaded to the site, and that the resizing tags above be used to scale the images down. This allows readers to access the high resolution versions, if needed, while also saving time and bandwidth with smaller versions in the articles. Some images require a larger format in the article. In these very rare cases, the image should NOT be sized larger than 450px. This is a hard rule! Copyrights On Images Copywritten images SHOULD NOT be used on the Lexicon without permission. Should you believe that you are using the image in "Copyright Free Use" mode, a notation to that fact should be put on the Image Page. The Image Page is accessed by clicking on the image (after you have finished writing the article), where you should click the "edit" button to add the appropriate tag. There are two main "copyright" tags for images, public domain (no copyright) and copyright. Public Domain This tag should be put on line one of the edit box: Underneath that, you should identify where you found the image, and why you think it is public domain. This also applies to images of yours that you are releasing to the public domain. Copywritten, but not by you This tag should be put on line one of the edit box: Underneath that, you MUST identify the source of the image, and why you believe that the image is being used in FAIR USE. Understand that the Admins of this site may remove copywritten images for any reason, including non-fair use. Copywritten by you This tag should be put on line one of the edit box: This is for images for which the poster is the holder of the copyright (in other words, it is their creation). Underneath this template tag, you MUST identify the copyright holder of the image (either your REAL NAME or PSEUDONYM) and clearly state that you allow the use of this image on the Lexicon. You may add additional licensing rules (such as "you may not use this image elsewhere."). Footnotes * Our hosting is provided by AutoDMC Labs on their MediaTemple hosting system. Category:Lexicon